putyouallin

Let me start off by saying... I'm way out of my league on this one. I thought I was pretty mechanically inclined and pretty logical when it comes to anything but women. I just bought my first home with an amazing pool/spa and it has multiple issues. I just spent $800 (can't afford to spend much more) on draining the pool, chlorine wash, and repairing the filter. It has fresh water and gets great pressure. I was told that the problems with the pop-ups and heater were pressure related. He told me that once we fixed the filter that the other devices would work. I feel like an idiot for believing that. I'm not going to worry about the pop-ups right now, but getting the heater working is essential. PLEASE HELP!!! I will try to tell you everything you may need to know to help me figure out the best approach at getting this resolved on a budget. The heater has worked in the past, but I am not sure how long it has been since it has been used last. This is strange to me, but I do not know what kind of problems this may cause or has caused already. IT IS NOT MOUNTED ON CONCRETE BLOCKS OR EVEN A SLAB. I know that it had to pass an inspection from Southwest Gas (Arizona), but do they know the specific requirements the heater manufacturer requires? Do they have to use common sense? I may just be an idiot and maybe this step is NOT necessary. It looks really dirty on the inside of the unit when I took off the panel. I have read this post (THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO HAS CONTRIBUTED)and decide to call the gas company to come out to make sure I'm getting the right amount of pressure. He said the pressure is great. He measured it right at the input of the unit and said it measured 8.1 (whatever that means). I also asked him about the meter. He said that the meter was HUGE and that could easily be ruled out. He seemed very experienced and I feel pretty certain that we can rule out the heater not getting the right amount of gas to it, but what does it do with it once it gets there? When i try to fire it up I can smell the gas and it does try a few times before I get the AGS error message. I found a receipt for a part the previous owner had purchased and it was the gas manifold. I am a bit nervous to call someone from Jandy from reading all of these horror stories. I can not afford to drop a ton of cash on it, but I really would like this to get fixed. Does anyone have ANY advice? Should I call one of my local service specialist? I can not afford to waste more than $100 on getting someone out here just to have me buy parts that may or may not fix my problem. Sorry, I just have a hard time trusting some of these service guys. They really can be just glorified salesmen. PLEASE HELP!! Brgds, Mike